


Sunrise

by closemyeyesandleap



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F, Falling In Love, Fitzsimmons are just best friends here, Fluff, Science Nerd Jemma Simmons, beach, season 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 12:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16534724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closemyeyesandleap/pseuds/closemyeyesandleap
Summary: Daisy confesses to Jemma that she's afraid of the ocean.Jemma wants to show her how magical it can be.





	Sunrise

Jemma gazed at the waves before her. The sun was just beginning to peek out behind the horizon, painting the sky in a pinkish haze. The sound of the water and the cries of the gulls overhead calmed her. The scene reminded her of summer holidays to the seashore with her parents as a child. 

She leaned back in the sand and watched a surfer catch a wave and ride it cleanly past her. He seemed to dance on his board, moving to the nose and retreating back. She sighed. 

If only all missions were this pleasant.

She ran her fingers through the sand, gently brushing Daisy’s before she allowed her hands to settle. 

“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” Jemma sighed.

Daisy blinked slowly. The rising sun disappeared behind a low-hanging cloud, sending a rush of orange blazing over the pink. 

“It’s nicer than hunting down Watchdogs from my van, I’ll give you that.”

Jemma shifted over closer to Daisy. They’d have sand all throughout their clothes, but she’d worry about that later. 

“True. I must say, though, it was a bit thrilling joining in on the hunt.” 

The corners of Daisy’s lips turned up. “Less for me. I didn’t have you most of the time, remember?” 

Daisy yawned and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Now don’t go falling asleep on me!” Jemma protested.

“Why did we have to wake up so freakin’ early? Couldn’t we have just shown up at this guy’s house at a reasonable hour? Why’d we have to watch him surf at the break of dawn?” Daisy grumbled. 

Jemma rolled her eyes. “Oh, hush. You and May get up far earlier than this for training.”

Daisy shifted awkwardly on the sand. “Not since I got back. Guess I’m out of the routine.”

“Well, we’re getting reports that this boy, Jeremy, can somehow communicate with or control cetaceans. It’s fascinating! Of course, neither he nor his power seems remotely dangerous, but Mace is concerned that he may be drawing too much attention and attracting unwanted notice from the Watchdogs and other nefarious hate-mongers.”

“Wha… wait, what? He controls ceta-what-nows?”

“Cetaceans. Like whales, porpoises, dolphins, and the like,” Jemma explained.

“So that’s what SHIELD does now? Covert whale-watching?”

“Well, actually, dolphins are far more common in this region than whales this time of year, so it’s much more likely that he will attract pods of dol––”

“We’re dolphin super-spies, then. So what do you need me for? I doubt dolphins are afraid of earthquakes.” Daisy rolled her eyes.

“The dolphins haven’t been a threat either. No, but new Inhumans are always comforted by someone else who has gone through the same thing. Besides,” Jemma lay her head on Daisy’s shoulder, gazing over the ocean. “It is kind of romantic, isn’t it?” A smile spread across her face.

“Jemma Simmons!” Daisy gasped in mock astonishment. “Are you trying to turn a mission into a date?”

Jemma flushed. “I just might have had that idea, Agent Johnson.”

Daisy let her head lean on Jemma’s as well. “‘Kay.”

Jemma breathed in deeply. The tang of the salt was a delicious contrast with the sterile air of the lab she was so used to inhaling. It mixed with the faint hint of honey and vanilla she sensed in Daisy’s hair. 

She hoped Jeremy would surf for hours and hours.

“I love the waves,” she murmured to Daisy, who was gently caressing her hand. “They make me feel so alive, so free. How about we take a bit of dip while we wait, hm?”

Daisy’s hand stilled. She took a moment to respond. “I don’t think so, Jemma.”

Jemma raised her head and pulled at Daisy’s hand. “Come on, Daisy! It’ll be nice.”

Daisy glanced at the waves, and then her eyes fell to the sand. “The ocean doesn’t make me feel free, Jems. It makes me feel… small.” She paused. “I’m surprised it isn’t the same for you, honestly, after what you and Fitz went through.”

Jemma shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t be so keen on a submarine excursion, sure, but the beach is different.”

Jemma stood and pulled off her top, revealing her SHIELD-issue one piece. She regretted choosing the practical clothing now. She kicked off her shorts and pulled at Daisy’s hand. “Let’s go!”

Daisy shook her head.

“Well you’re no fun,” Jemma complained, plopping down again next to Daisy.

Daisy bit her lip. “OK, don’t laugh at me, Jems. Alright?”

“Never.”

Daisy sucked in a breath. “Well, the truth is, I can’t actually swim. Not any good, anyway, and definitely not in the ocean.”

“We’ve swum together, though,” Jemma said, recalling a weekend excursion to a hotel a few years ago, back when life wasn’t so complicated. She remembered that weekend perfectly. She’d never forget how stunning Daisy looked in her woven burgundy bikini. 

“Sure, I can bob up and down in the shallow end of a pool, but not the ocean!”

Jemma reached for Daisy’s hand. “Have you ever tried?”

Daisy flushed. “I mean, sure, when I was a kid.”

“Didn’t go well?”

Daisy fidgeted for a moment, drawing shapes on Jemma’s hand. “The foster family I was with had two kids of their own, and they always went to the beach with their extended family over the summer. I was with them in July, so they took me with them.”

Jemma nodded encouragingly.

Daisy snorted. “It took me two days to get near the water. The nuns at St. Agnes never let the girls go swimming. They thought girls’ bathing suits tempted the boys too much. But on that trip, the other kids and their cousins started giving me a hard time, so I thought, ‘what they heck?’”

“And?”

“It was fun for like five minutes, till the waves got bigger and we were farther out than I liked. Then one of the older boys started screaming ‘shark!’ and his brother grabbed my foot with his nails and pulled me under.”

“I’m sorry. Kids can be cruel,” Jemma murmured.

Daisy laughed. “When we got out I gave them both a black eye. But then as a punishment, the adults didn’t let any of us out of the hotel for the rest of the trip, so I didn’t get the chance to go into the ocean again. Not that I really wanted to.”

Jemma let rubbed Daisy’s knee with her other hand. “We should give you better memories.”

Daisy shook her head. “I can’t.”

“You’re a superhero, Daisy!” 

“Yeah, but I can’t quake the ocean, Jems!”

“Well, technically, you could. It would probably just generate excessive wave activity, maybe even a tsunami …but you could.”

Daisy rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Daisy. We’ll stay in the shallows, and I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

Daisy nodded and slowly removed her shirt. To Jemma’s slight disappointment, she saw Daisy was wearing the same standard SHIELD-issue bathing suit as she. 

Really, they should have thought to bring their bikinis.

Her eyes settled on Daisy’s arms. They were still spotted with bruises. Even though the bone restoration pills had healed the fractures, the deep bruising had to heal on its own. 

Before she could stop herself, Jemma reached out and traced the outlines of the bruises. The bruises seemed like dark clouds scattered across the orange sky of the sunrise reflected on Daisy’s skin.

Daisy gave a slight shrug, feeling self conscious. “They look worse than they feel. So, we gonna do this?” She pointed at the ocean.

Jemma smiled and nodded.

Daisy swallowed. “After you.”

They approached the edge of the water. Jemma glanced at the surfer they were supposed to be monitoring. He still seemed quite relaxed out in the lineup. He’d be there for a while. At least, she hoped he would.

“Damn, it’s cold!” Daisy yelped as she put a toe in.

“Oh hush. The water is far colder in the UK. And in the Pacific, so you should be used to it.”

“Like I said, I don’t swim in the ocean and I sure as hell wasn’t gonna brave it when I lived in L.A,” Daisy protested.

They waded deeper. When the water reached just below their waist, Jemma dove in, soaking herself and splashing Daisy. She emerged laughing.

“Hey, you got me wet,” Daisy complained.

“Did I now?” Jemma winked.

Daisy blushed and sent a little quake into the water, splashing water at Jemma.

Jemma prepared to send another splash back at Daisy, but a wave broke a few feet behind them and the white water rushed over them at chest level.

Daisy gave a little squeak and stumbled a few feet back. 

“Whoa, whoa, I got you. We’re still standing,” Jemma reassured her, wrapping her arms around Daisy for good measure.

Daisy nuzzled into Jemma’s neck. “OK.”

“Now, if for some reason, you feel yourself getting pulled out, that’s a rip current. Don’t fight it. That’s when it gets dangerous. It won’t pull you any further than those surfers out there—yell at them and they’ll grab you.”

“Wait, what?” Daisy made to retreat back to land.

“I know you can tread water. It’s just a bit of safety advice,” Jemma assured her. Daisy nodded.

Jemma grabbed Daisy’s hand and led her a little further out in the water, holding onto her as another wave washed over them. It was weird, but nice. She’d never seen this side of Daisy before. She hated to see Daisy frightened, but it was kind of nice to have a chance to be the strong one, for once.

They reached water that was about chest deep. “This is far enough,” Jemma decided. 

Daisy glanced in the water. In the early morning light, it was far from clear, and she couldn’t see her toes. “Probably sharks all around us.”

“Nonsense. We’re far more likely to encounter cnidaria… jellyfish! There are so many amazing species in this part of the Atlantic,” Jemma said brightly.

Daisy gritted her teeth and clung closer to Jemma. “Not helping, Simmons.”

“Here, there aren’t any waves coming. Try to float for me.”

Daisy leaned back and Jemma pushed her up in the water, her hand lingering to graze her back. Daisy smiled as she looked up at the sky and Jemma’s face before losing her sense of buoyancy and paddling down again into a standing position.

Daisy caught sight of fins surfacing above the water from the corner of her eye and panicked. 

“Ah! Sharks!” Daisy yelped and started splashing towards shore.

Jemma started and glanced behind her. A sense of peace replaced her fear. A pod of dolphins was swimming by, larger than any grouping she’d ever seen. It looked like dozens.

“Daisy! They’re just dolphins, come look.” Daisy, who was having difficulty pushing forward in the water anyway, sucked in a breath. She glanced behind her.

“You sure?” she asked, skeptical.

“Of course. Sharks are fish. They swim side to side, not up and down like that.”

Daisy watched the dolphins swim by, dozens and dozens of them, still feeling a little uneasy. She moved closer to Jemma. Jemma placed her arms around Daisy’s waist. Another wave washed over them, and Daisy coughed a little.

Jemma moved them into shallower water. The two stood, embracing, as they watched the enormous pod of dolphins frolicking around the lineup where the surfers were congregated.

“Must be nice,” Daisy mused, nuzzling Jemma with her nose, “to have a power that calls to nature like his, one that brings beauty and not destruction.”

Jemma nodded, warmth spreading throughout her body at the touch despite the cool of the water.

“OK, you were right,” Daisy said, snuggling against Jemma. “This makes me feel alive.”

**Author's Note:**

> I don't normally do shippy stuff, but I love Skimmons (and the ocean) so here we go.
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts :)


End file.
